20200106
THE
PARADOX OF TESTING THE SPIRIT THROUGH THE INCARNATION
06 January,
2020, Monday after Epiphany
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
|
First reading
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1 John 3:22-4:6 ©
|
The Son of God has come and given us the power to know the true
God
Whatever
we ask God,
we
shall receive,
because
we keep his commandments
and
live the kind of life that he wants.
His
commandments are these:
that
we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
and
that we love one another
as he
told us to.
Whoever
keeps his commandments
lives
in God and God lives in him.
We
know that he lives in us
by
the Spirit that he has given us.
It is
not every spirit, my dear people, that you can trust;
test
them, to see if they come from God,
there
are many false prophets, now, in the world.
You
can tell the spirits that come from God by this:
every
spirit which acknowledges that Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh
is
from God;
but
any spirit which will not say this of Jesus
is
not from God,
but
is the spirit of Antichrist,
whose
coming you were warned about.
Well,
now he is here, in the world.
Children,
you
have already overcome these false prophets,
because
you are from God and you have in you
one
who is greater than anyone in this world;
as
for them, they are of the world,
and
so they speak the language of the world
and
the world listens to them.
But
we are children of God,
and
those who know God listen to us;
those
who are not of God refuse to listen to us.
This
is how we can tell
the
spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood.
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
|
Psalm 2:7-8,10-11 ©
|
I
will give you the nations for your heritage.
The
Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.
It
is I who have begotten you this day.
Ask
and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put
the ends of the earth in your possession.’
I
will give you the nations for your heritage.
Now,
O kings, understand,
take
warning, rulers of the earth;
serve
the Lord with awe
and
trembling, pay him your homage.
I
will give you the nations for your heritage.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Mt4:16
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
The
people that lived in darkness
has
seen a great light;
on
those who dwell in the land and shadow of death
a
light has dawned.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
cf.Mt4:23
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Jesus
proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and
cured all kinds of diseases among the people.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Lk4:17
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
The
Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to
proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Lk7:16
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
A
great prophet has appeared among us;
God
has visited his people.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
cf.1Tim3:16
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Glory
to you, O Christ,
proclaimed
to the pagans;
glory
to you, O Christ,
believed
in by the world.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
|
Matthew 4:12-17,23-25 ©
|
The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light
Hearing that John
had been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and
settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali.
In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled:
‘Land
of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
Way
of the sea on the far side of Jordan,
Galilee
of the nations!
The
people that lived in darkness has seen a great light;
on
those who dwell in the land and shadow of death
a
light has dawned.’
From that moment
Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is close at hand.’
He
went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the
Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among
the people. His fame spread throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from
diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed,
epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them. Large
crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and
Transjordania.
THE PARADOX OF
TESTING THE SPIRIT THROUGH THE INCARNATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 JN 3:22-4:6; MT 4:12-17. 23-25 ]
In the face of prolific
materials on almost everything in life on the internet and social media, it is
extremely difficult to discern what is true or false or what is false
masqueraded as truth.
Worse still, there is a lot of fake news that appear to be true. So much so, we
do not know how true they are. And even if they are true, there are so
many viewpoints to a particular position that again, we are paralyzed in making
any proper decision. This is true with respect to religions, all purporting
to have the truth about God and life. And even within each religion,
there are many views with regard to the interpretation of doctrines held by the
faith. So much so, we either end up as agnostics, skeptics or simply
taking a position we feel drawn towards, knowing that perhaps one day we will
discover that we might have been misled.
Indeed, this is the
greatest irony in the world today. In the gospel, St Matthew citing from the
prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament, recounts how the Israelites were living in
darkness. “Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea on the far
side of Jordan, Galilee of the nations! The people that lived in darkness has
seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light
has dawned.” In their case, they were living not so much in intellectual
blindness but in poverty, hunger, oppression and injustices. They lived
in fear within because of the corruption among the political and religious
leaders, businessmen and the rich. Externally, they were threatened by
their enemies, the Assyrians waiting to occupy their territory.
But in our case, it is
both intellectual and social blindness. Although we have so much knowledge, we are
ignorant about the real truth of life, about God and about righteous
living. As a consequence, today, we live only for ourselves, for this
limited time on earth, taking out as much as we can rather than putting back
what we have taken. We lack true love for our fellowmen because we lack
love for God. This is what St John said, “His commandments are these:
that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we love one
another as he told us to. Whoever keeps his commandments lives in God and God
lives in him. We know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.”
St John invites us to
discern what is true and good. Not
everything that is apparently good is good, neither in the short nor long
term. This is the ignorance that comes from the arrogance of
humanity. Just because it serves our purpose and fulfills what we desire,
we think they are good. Just because our women cannot bear children, we
try at all costs to have a child – surrogate motherhood, social egg freezing,
IVF. From same sex union to adoption of babies, we allow the democratic
view to prevail because the people are in favour. But have we thought of
the emotional and psychological consequences of such forms of conception? We
permit because the people want them. It is like gambling, prostitution
and even drug consumption. Hence, St John urges us, “It is not
every spirit, my dear people, that you can trust; test them, to see if they
come from God, there are many false prophets, now, in the world.”
What, then, would be the
guidelines for Christians to discern whether something that is proposed is from
the good or evil spirit? St
John says, “You can tell the spirits that come from God by this: every spirit
which acknowledges that Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh is from God; but
any spirit which will not say this of Jesus is not from God, but is the spirit
of Antichrist, whose coming you are warned about. Well, now he is here, in the
world.” Faith in the incarnation is the basis for us to make our
discernment. To acknowledge that Jesus has come in the flesh means to
affirm that Jesus the Son of God has taken our human flesh. He is not simply a
man but He is also God. It also means that as the Word of God, we must
listen to all that He teaches because His word is truth. It is not for us
to choose and select which part of the scripture is acceptable to us. If
Jesus is the Word of God, then we need to accept the Word of God wholly and
entirely as the truth spoken by God in Jesus. Jesus reiterated this
during His discourse on the Bread of Life. He remarked, “It is the spirit
that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are
spirit and life.” (Jn 6:63) St Peter later
would confess, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal
life.” (Jn 6:68) So the basis
for discernment must be rooted in the scriptures and in the teaching of the
Church.
However, it is not
enough simply to have the right doctrines and even the right worship. Indeed, there are many so-called pious
Catholics. They seem to be very spiritual. They go to church
regularly. They are involved in church ministries. They attend
lectures, seminars and retreats. They appear to be pious and spiritual
people. Nevertheless, they are judgmental, critical of others,
self-righteous and condemning this and that person. St John makes it
clear that if we behave in such a manner, then the Spirit of Christ is not with
us. Love is the ultimate criterion of whether we have the spirit or
not. Indeed, this is the fundamental criterion we use to discern
something, whether a project, an idea or a policy comes from God.
However, it is more than just being loving.
It must be love from
beginning to end, from oneself to others, for now and the future, for the
present generation and future generations to come. So it is not what many people
in the name of love are saying. Sleeping with our partner might be love
but is it the most loving thing to do? Do we protect the one we love from
an unwanted pregnancy and from a flippant relationship? Same-sex
union might be born from love but is this love fruitful? Euthanasia might
relieve the suffering of our loved ones but is it because love is lacking?
Abortion might prevent unwanted births, but is it done out of a greater
selfishness and lack of love for those who do not want to take responsibility
for bringing a life to this world? Surrogate motherhood might be able to
fulfil the desire of every woman to be a mother. But is this a right or a
gift of nature? What are the implications of surrogate motherhood and IVF
on the emotional bonds of the child with the mother? Today, we talk about
social egg freezing. Have we considered whether an older woman can give
the motherly care to a child that demands much of our energy and time? It
is the same for secularism. Is this the best way to preserve the unity of
our people when relativism prevails?
It is clear that faith
in the incarnation of our Lord requires us to act always in love and for
love. This is what it means to believe that Jesus came in the flesh. He is the flesh of God, in Him, we
see the Father. He came to show us the Father’s compassion and
love. That is why we read that “He went round the whole of Galilee
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and
curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people. His fame spread
throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from diseases and painful
complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed,
were all brought to him, and he cured them.” Jesus was in touch with the
sufferings of people. He was not hiding in the Temple praying to His
Father or merely teaching some doctrines. He was the compassion of
God in person. Hence, it is of critical importance that we come to
know Jesus in the flesh. He is not simply an idea, a philosophy or some
lofty thought. He is a person whom we relate with in prayer, in
meditation and in human relationships. He is someone whom we can touch
and feel. We touch Him in a special way when we show mercy to the poor,
the suffering and the weak. Jesus is identified with them!
Indeed, faith in the
Incarnation and all its implications in our relationship with Him and with our
brothers and sisters is the litmus test of what truly comes from the Holy
Spirit. St John wrote,
“We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we
have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands,
concerning the word of life.’ (1 Jn 1:1) Let us too be reminded of the words
of Pope Emeritus Benedict, “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical
choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives
life a new horizon and a decisive direction. Saint John’s Gospel describes that
event in these words: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should … have eternal life” (3:16). (Deus Caritas
Est, 1)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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